In the early hours of Oct. 8, 2017, residents of Santa Rosa, Calif., awoke to a real-life nightmare as they watched flames cascade over the hills toward their homes. With only minutes to grab family members and escape from the fires coming their way, thousands of people — mothers, fathers, children — lost everything.

Dewitt, a resident of the Santa Rosa area, was among those battered by the fire. A father to 1 child, with another on the...

For just a moment, try to ignore those news alerts on your phone. Take a deep breath and join us in the Kiva universe–a kind and compassionate corner of the internet (some may say parallel dimension) where people help each other improve their lives, every day. Here in the Kiva universe millions of people carry out small acts of kindness all the time.

The holidays are fast-approaching! Enjoy a list of sustainable travel gifts, stories surrounding success and an update of what's new with Kiva as we move into the new year, below:
The compost crusader
Gifts for the eco-minded traveler
Kids aged 4 to 6 perform better during boring tasks when dressed as Batman
Kiva U.S. loans now up to $25,000...

All over the world, Review and Translation Program (RTP) volunteers offer their time and skills to ensure that the thousands of loans that come in from Kiva’s partners are edited and translated from our 5 key languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Russian. In the past 3 months alone, RTP volunteers have reviewed 57,199 loans, averaging over 19,000 loans per month. They enjoy being involved in the process from reviewing the original loans to seeing them fundraise on Kiva.
This month we celebrate 3 of our incredible volunteers who work in 4 different languages - Audhild,...

This holiday season, you can light up a life by making a loan on Kiva, or by giving the gift of a Kiva Card to someone you love.

Ernestina, an artisan in Ghana, is dressed to the nines for company but doesn’t hesitate for a moment to climb into her carving workshop and show us how it’s done.

When she carves it’s a full body effort. She positions herself on a tree stump, across from her material. She uses her legs, clad in beautiful orange embellished pants, to pin the wood in place and begins chiseling, wood chips flying. She kicks off her shoes for...

This holiday season, you can light up a life by making a loan on Kiva, or giving the gift of a Kiva Card to someone you love.

Flordelisa is a fisherwoman living in the Philippines. Ignited by the desire to send her children to college, she searched for a way to provide access to a good education. The solution that brightened her entire family’s future: a Kiva loan supported by lenders around the world.

When she worked for someone else, Flordelisa struggled to earn enough to pay for school fees. She decided to use a Kiva loan to purchase...

At Kiva, we love to travel and connect with people around the world. Lending on Kiva is of course one of the ways we maintain that connection, and so is living vicariously through travel writers.

We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite blogs that each offer a unique perspective on travel. We especially enjoy their commitment to leaving a positive, impactful mark on their ever-expanding world. Check them out below:

Nomadness Tribe

The Nomadness Travel Tribe is an online community of over 15,000 travelers. Members collectively...

Flordelisa is a hard working woman in the Philippines who puts her children above all. Before she took out her first Kiva loan, the family relied on her husband’s salary as a boatman. Now, Flordelisa owns 3 fishing boats and employs 5 people. Her ambition and grit allowed her to build a family fishing business and send her children to school.

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Kiva connects millions of people through lending to alleviate poverty. Read about our partners, programs and loans here. Or check out stories straight from the field on the Kiva Fellows Blog. Have questions? Send them our way at blog@kiva.org.